Clean Blood
by Modulated
Summary: Kue-Jin and Sabat have invaded San Francisco. Things look bad for Julian Luna and his princedom, but Camarilla aid is on the way. Maximillian Strauss, his young companion, the legendary "Fledgling," Heather Poe and Damsel return. X-over Bloodlines.


**Chapter 1**

"Don't touch that box."

Heather Poe stood on the deck of the _Masque_, and spoke sternly to one of the dock hands busy unloading the vessel. She was not very physically impressive, and the hand had orders to unload the vessel, so he ignored the girl.

Of course, she became a great deal more intimidating when she pulled out a .45 caliber revolver and leveled it at the dock hand.

"I _said_ don't. Touch. That. Box."

The deck hand froze, and then disappeared rapidly, walking quickly down the gangway off the boat. Might as well call it an early day and not bother to finish. He signaled for his fellow workers to follow.

Heather sighed as she holstered the massive weapon and massaged her weary temples. She hadn't enjoyed the trip nearly as much as she thought she would, all the romantic images of sailing had disappeared after her first bout of sea-sickness. However, the sun was setting, and that always brought a smile to her face.

She watched as the last rays of light disappeared over the horizon and the stars over San Francisco began to twinkle. As if on cue, the locks on the long, rectangular metal box she had been protecting hissed open and the top of it opened neatly, revealing a dark-haired young man who rested on the coffin-like bed inside. The man's eyes fluttered open and he yawned, before catching sight of the girl looking down at him anxiously. He smiled at her warmly, a smile he only seemed to wear when they were alone.

"Are we already here, Heather, or did you just want to talk? Or maybe… something else?" He spoke warmly as he pulled himself up and out of the box, smoothing his pant legs out once he stood up.

Heather blushed crimson and stammered her answer, "Uh.. no… I'm… I'm fine, thanks, but, uhm…. Here we are. San Francisco, Master, safe and sound, just as you asked."

"Hummm…" the man breathed deeply, sucking in the salt air as it drifted in off the bay, "Is our good man Strauss up yet?" The creak of a wooden box answered the man's question as yet another, older man rose out of what looked to be a coffin.

"Bloody sea travel. It may be the best kind, but it's still so damn… uncivilized. Shipped about like cargo," grumbled the old man.

"Oh well. Just another burden, Regent. We all have to do what we can. What with it being Gehenna and all."

"Stop saying that. You sound like a damn Malkavian."

Heather coughed loudly, and the two men turned to look at her.

"Uhm. Don't you two have… you know… work, to do?"

The younger man smiled, "Yeah. Heather's right. It's time to get down to business, Max. Time to tell us all your big plan."

The older man took off his glasses and rubbed them on his sleeve as he spoke, "Right. Well, as you know, after your performance in L.A. the Camarilla decided that you were too valuable an asset to be tied to any one city or prince. Also, it has become abundantly obvious that the standard Camarilla government form simply won't work in a city such as Los Angeles, therefore, they have decided to issue an informal princedom to the leader of the Anarchs, in exchange for upholding the laws of the Camarilla and Masquerade. Mr. Rodrieguez may be rebellious, but he is not stupid, and neither is the Camarilla. We both realize that our true enemies are the Sabbat savages and these foreign Kue-jin usurpers. We don't have time to squabble over petty dominion while our shared enemies gain more and more ground. The Barons will maintain peace in Los Angeles, keeping the Masquerade, and dealing with any further Kue-jin or Sabbat incursions. They have a vested interest in doing so now-"

"Because they don't want me coming down there again to kill every last Kindred in Orange County." Interjected the younger man, elbowing his lover in the ribs. She just stared at her feet.

"…Right. Well. Yes. More or less. Your… talents have shifted the balance towards us, but we cannot stand without allies; we must protect those loyal to the masquerade, and punish those that disobey it. That, is why we are here."

"More Sabbat? Great."

"Perhaps. In truth, we don't know the situation here. It's been a black hole ever since a successful incursion by the Kue-jin several years ago. The Camarilla received requests help from the city's Prince… but in those days the Camarilla was… less concerned with the Kue-jin. However, those days are over, and the Camarilla have decided that it is in all our best interest to protect one another. Hence, we have been allowed to establish a Tremere presence, in exchange for ridding this city of undesirables and aiding the Prince in any way we can."

The three turned to hear an angry tramping coming up the gang-plank to see a feisty young woman in a beret, cargo pants and t-shirt glaring at them.

"Oh. Sure. Just start the party without me, huh guys? Thanks for waking me up!" Snarled the woman.

"Hey, Damsel, you're up! How'd you sleep?" asked the younger Tremere.

"We were just discussing politics, girl. It would have bored you anyway, …if you understood it," explained Strauss condescendingly.

"Oh, a very merry 'fuck you' to you, too, Strauss. Bullshit politician Regent. And I slept fine, thanks." She snapped at the Regent, but her tone lightened towards the younger man.

"Well, now that we're up, I can finish _explaining_ the situation. Our first priority is expelling the Kue-jin from this city. Neophyte, I want you to burn this city clear of those smug octopi."

"You know, that's the only thing I've ever heard you say that made any damn sense, Strauss," complemented Damsel snidely.

"_Thank_ you, Ms. Damsel," answered the Regent, pointedly ignoring the young Brujah's sarcasm, "As you know, you've been asked to come with us because of your history in this area and it's familiarity with it. There were reports of the Brujah here acting like little more than common thugs, perhaps you would be so kind as to 're-educate' them in their responsibilities as Kindred? You start with their Primogen, a young Ms. Sasha, I believe. You may be able to hunt her down by the docks."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll deal with it. Those split-clan tools need to learn there's bigger things in this un-life than robbing liquor stores."

"Right. Well. For my part, I will go see the Prince to formerly announce our entrance into his city, offer our aid, and request permission for a Tremere presence. I leave you to your tasks. Where's my driver?"

More Tremere had begun to gather on the deck, only a small contingent who had volunteered to leave the Chantry in Los Angeles.

"I can deal with the Kue-jin myself, Strauss, take the rest of the boys and the girls with you. I doubt Damsel will need any help," offered the Neophyte.

"Yeah, you kids go with your boss. I'm gonna roll out, kay? Sooner I find those Brujah, sooner I wash the Camarilla bullshit off me," supplemented the feisty Brujah.

"We love you too, Damsel," chimed the Fledgling, and Damsel waved as she walked down the gangplank.

"Right. Well. I leave the rest to you," said the Regent quickly before motioning to the other Tremere. The young man and Heather stood watched the waves while the Tremere's towncars started up and drove off.

"You'll like it here, trust me," comforted the young man as he wrapped he pulled the young girl close.

"Hm. Well, it's not like I _liked_ L.A."

He laughed, "Who does?"

"No… I mean…" she trailed off and lowered her gaze as he sought to meet it.

He raised her head with a hand and asked, "What is it, lovely?"

She smiled, "I… I'm just happy to be with you, Master."

The waves of the San Francisco bay lapped steadily against the moorings of the pier as the young Tremere fledgling kissed his dearest love.

* * *

Things were going rather well, truth be told, for Mei Lin. She was practically queen of the city by now, her agents had dispatched almost all opposition to her control of San Francisco, and while her rival, the Kindred whelp of a prince, Julian Luna, hid for fear of his life, she reigned over the city from the comfort of a small tea shop, sipping a pleasant cherry blend, secure in the protection of her invincible fellow Kue-Jin body guards. So, imagine her surprise when a young Kindred walked into her private chambers. She recovered quickly though.

"Ah, a new face! How nice it is to see Kindred who have enough respect to announce themselves to the _true_ lords of this city upon their arrival-"

"Shut up."

Her mouth snapped shut of its own accord, and a feeling of utter terror gripped the woman.

"I'm going to talk. You're going to listen. You're bodyguards are dead. I boiled the blood within their veins and sent them packing to the great beyond, minus one fulfilled purpose. You don't need to know who I am, except that I'm the Kindred who slaughtered most, if not every single Kue-Jin in Los Angeles a couple months ago. And I could very well do the same here. So. Option One is:"

He held up one finger; "I kill every last one of you Kue-Jin fuckers from here to Portland. Option Two is:"

He held up two fingers; "You get the fuck out of our city and never come back, and you tell your bosses to get the fuck out of the West Coast unless they want me to roll up to Shanghai and just have my own little _party_ of whimsy and fun."

There was a dead silence as the man stared at the terrified Kue-Jin. Presently, he smiled and put down his hand.

"May I have some tea?"

Naturally, she couldn't answer.

"I'll help myself, don't worry."

There was another silence as the Kindred poured some tea into a porcelain tea cup, raised it to his nostrils, and inhaled deeply.

"Naturally, we can't drink it, but I like the smell."

Another Silence.

"Say, you wanna see something cool?"

More Silence.

The kindred sat the cup down on the table and the palm of his hand down next to it. He raised his hand up slowly, and for a second, nothing seemed to happen. Then, the tea began to boil, it's vapors rising higher, gaining in intensity until it bubbled over the sides of the porcelain. As it reached its limit, the young Tremere snapped his fingers, and the cup imploded into a thousand tiny shards, striking the Kue Jin, despite the desperate twitch she made to get away.

The porcelain seared into her flesh painfully as he spoke.

"We are not fucking around anymore. I have tried to negotiate with your kind before, but you seem intent on fucking with us. Take my advice. Give up this 'rule the world' bullshit. Go home. Find your destiny. Move onto the afterlife. Leave this world and it's crassness to us. Neither we nor you are the true masters of this place, so let's all just go about our business, and I won't have to re-decorate your pretty little tea shop with your blood and bits of your pretty white skin until it looks like a goddamn Sabbat hell-hole. I know you have boats on the docks. So."

"Get."

"The."

"Fuck."

"Out."

"Of."

"Our."

"City."

The Kue-Jin felt as if an invisible hand tightened about her throat as he spoke, and as he finished, she was suddenly released, causing her to collapse forward onto the table, gasping.

The Kindred lifted the woman's chin with his hand and gazed into her eyes as he spoke. "You have until daybreak. If you are still here tomorrow night, it will be your last."


End file.
